e-Payments are secure real time payments that
transfer funds (via the Internet) between a consumer and the merchant's financial institutions.
e-Payments require secure communication between all components of the e-Payment process.

The Components of an e-Payment
SolutionAn end-to-end e-Payment solution is made up
of the following components:? The
Merchant application is a business
application/website on the merchant's system that uses Payment Client to process payments.? The
Integration module is a communication bridge
between the merchant application and Payment Client.? Payment
Client provides secure communication between the
merchant application and the Payment Server. Payment Client can be
integrated with a number of systems including merchant applications, Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
systems, and integrated ERPs ? Payment
Server processes merchant Digital Orders.? The
Payment Provider enables the merchant to accept
payments online.

In their most simple form, e-Payments are
represented in the following diagram:

How e-Payments Transfer Funds

e-Payments transfer funds via the following
steps:1 The
cardholder purchases goods/services from the merchant (for example, in person,
via theInternet, over the phone).2 The merchant
application sends a Payment Client Digital Order (via the Payment Server) to themerchant's Payment Provider.3 The
merchant's Payment Provider directs the request to the cardholder's bank.4 The
cardholder's bank debits the cardholder's account and transfers the funds to the
merchant'saccount at the merchant's Payment Provider.

About e-Payment Information FlowsThis section describes how information is
transferred between the merchant application and thePayment Server.

The Merchant ApplicationTo process a payment, the merchant
application must send the required information to the PaymentServer. The merchant application uses the
Payment Client to send this information to the PaymentServer using two messages:

? Digital
Order is sent by the Payment Client to the Payment
Server to provide transactioninformation.Digital Receipt is
sent from the Payment Server to the Payment Client to indicate the outcome ofthe transaction (that is, successful or
otherwise).? A Transaction
is the combination of a Digital Order and a
Digital Receipt. For each customerpurchase or order, merchants may issue
several transactions.

Payment ClientTo securely communicate transaction
information between the merchant application and the Payment Server, the Payment Client:? Formats,
encrypts and digitally signs a Digital Order from the merchant application; and? Sends the
Digital Order to the Payment Server? Receives the
Digital Receipt, decrypts it and processes the results.

The Payment ServerTo complete the transaction the Payment
Server:? Processes the
Digital Order? Transfers
funds from the cardholder's account to the merchant's Payment Provider account
and? Returns a
signed and encrypted Digital Receipt to Payment Client.